New Canaan’s Fager, of 60 Minutes, exits CBS

New Canaan resident Jeff Fager, executive producer of the CBS television news program 60 Minutes, is leaving his employer effective immediately, according to several new sources on Sept. 12.

Though several news organizations are saying that Fager’s exit is the result of allegations of allowing misconduct by employees, CBS President David Rhodes is quoted on the CBS website as saying that it is not the case.

In a July 27 The New Yorker story, Fager was accused of ignoring and enabling bad behavior by two high-ranking male producers at 60 Minutes, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Anonymous former employees who spoke to the New Yorker’s author also accused Fager of misconduct.

Rhodes said that Fager’s departure “is not directly related to allegations surfacing in the press right now which are continuing to be investigated independently,” Rhodes said. “However he violated company policy and it is our commitment to uphold those policies at every level.”

Fager issued a statement reported by Fox News saying, “The company’s decision had nothing to do with the false allegations printed in The New Yorker. Instead, they terminated my contract early because I sent a text message to one of our CBS reporters demanding that she be fair in covering the story,” Fager said. “My language was harsh and, despite the fact that all journalists receive harsh demands for fairness all the time, CBS did not like it.”

Fager added, “One such note should not result in termination after 36 years, but it did.”

Fager strenuously denied the allegations in the New Yorker: “It is wrong that our culture can be falsely defined by a few people with an ax to grind who are using an important movement as a weapon to get even, and not by the hundreds of women and men that have thrived, both personally and professionally, at 60 Minutes.”